ACTOR'S DEATH UNDERSCORES POLYPHARMACY PITFALLS

MARCH 01, 2008

Longtime Pharmacy Times writer
Jeannette Yeznach Wick, RPh,
MBA, FASCP, was consulted by the
mainstream press in the aftermath
of actor Heath Ledger's death on
January 22. A toxicology report
found that he died of an accidental
drug overdose as a result of taking
5 prescription drugs and 1 OTC
sleep aid at the same time.

In a February 6, 2008, USA Today,
article, Wick said, "If this brings
attention to a problem that's not
just restricted to people who are rich and famous, it's a good
thing."

"The place where we get ink with polypharmacy is with elders,"
Wick continued. "The problem is we don't get any ink with
younger people."

In the same article, Thomas Lackner, a professor in the
department of experimental and clinical pharmacology at the
University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, said that it is not
hard to get multiple prescriptions for narcotics and benzodiazepines.
In addition to the OTC sleep aid, Ledger's autopsy
found 2 narcotic painkillers and 3 benzodiazepines—prescribed
for anxiety and for sleep.

Because it is unknown how Ledger obtained scripts for all
these drugs, Lackner said they may have been prescribed by a
single physician. He said that some physicians will do that "just
to satisfy their patients. In the end, it harms their patient." For a
related article, visit www.PharmacyTimes.com/polypharmacy.